The Relation of Visual and Verbal Style of Television Presentation to Learning of Prosocial Content.

Susman, Elizabeth J.

The study assessed the effect of two stylistic features of a prosocial television program, visual focusing and verbal labeling, on learning and behavior. Forty male and 40 female preschool children viewed one of five versions of a children's quiz show. Camera zooms and verbal labels alone and in combination emphasized sharing in four prosocial versions of the program: (1) visual focusing (camera zooms) alone, (2) verbal labeling alone, (3) verbal labeling and camera zooms and (4) no camera zooms, no verbal labeling. Sharing was edited out of a fifth version (control). Sex differences were found. Results indicate that: symbolic codes of the media can be used as mediators of television content, and symbolic codes influence behavior more than learning measured by words and pictorial symbols. Results are discussed in terms of the developmental lag between motoric performance and the ability to manipulate abstract symbols representing an act. (Author/MS)